Content-Based Computer Crimes
The PROTECT Act
PROTECT Act
On April 30, 2003 the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003, also known as the PROTECT Act, became law. By this Act Congress has tried to legislatively carve out a class of virtual child pornography that could still be prosecuted and therefore legislatively overturn, at least in part, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Free Speech Coalition case discussed previously. Congress has done so by proscribing the depiction of child porn that is “indistinguishable” from that involving an actual minor. The law states that "the term ‘indistinguishable’ used with respect to a depiction, means virtually indistinguishable, in that the depiction is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct." This definition does not apply to depictions that are drawings, cartoons, sculptures, or paintings depicting minors or adults.
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